Films 2014

Screening Time: Thursday, October 16, 8:30 PM

Loving is the story of the complicated relationship of a married couple of thirty-year-olds who appear to have everything they need to be happy. Maria has a successful career, Tomek is also satisfied with his job. They are decorating their new home and expecting a baby. It feels like nothing could shake their relationship. But Maria’s secret is a traumatic experience that not only changes her, but also impacts the relationship with her husband. The love between these two people is put to a long and straining test.

Director: Sławomir Fabicki
Screenwriters: Marek Pruchniewski, Slawomir Fabicki
Production: Leszek Rybarczyk, Marek Rudnicki
Cast: Marcin Dorociński, Julia Kijowska, Dorota Kolak, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Agata Kulesza, Adam Woronowicz, Marian Dziędziel
Time: 105 minutes
Awards: The award for Best Film at the 18th ‘Kino Pavasaris’ International Film Festival in Vilnius; the Golden Prometheus Award; the top award of the Tbilisi Film Festival; the top prize in the Main Competition of the 14th Festival of European Cinema in Lecce; the Best Actress Award at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival for Julia Kijowska
Genre: Drama, Romance

Screening Time: Saturday, October 18, 5:30 PM

Based on a true story, Life Feels Good is the story of Mateusz, a man living with cerebral palsy who has little to no contact with the world around him. Incorrectly diagnosed as mentally disabled, Mateusz is institutionalised at a clinic and takes a retrospective look at his life.

Director: Maciej Pieprzyca
Screenwriter: Maciej Pieprzyca
Production: Studio Filmowe Tramway
Cast: Dawid Ogrodnik, Kamil Tkacz, Dorota Kolak, Arkadiusz Jakubik, Anna Karczmarczyk, Katarzyna Zawadzka, Mikołaj Roznerski, Helena Sujecka, Anna Nehrebecka
Time: 112 minutes
Awards: The Eagles – Polish Film Academy Awards  for Dawid Ogrodnik for Best Actor, for Arkadiusz Jakubik for Best Supporting Actor, for Anna Nehrebecka for Best Supporting Actress, for Maciej Pieprzyca for Best Screenplay; Filmweb Award for Maciej Pieprzyca; Silver Lion Award & Audience Award at the Gdynia Film Festival; the Award of the Ecumencial Jury and the Audience Award at World Film Festival in Montreal: Grand Prix des Ameriques
Genre: Drama

Screening Time: Sunday, October 19, 5:45 PM

The true story of Papusza – the first Roma woman who put her poems into writing and published them, confronting traditional female image in the gypsy community. The film follows PAPUSZA’s life from birth to old age: arranged marriage as a small girl, her life in a gypsy tabor before, during and after second world war, then forced settlement in communist Poland and urban life in poverty. Her meeting with the Polish poet Jerzy Ficowski, who discovered her great talent for poetry and published her works led to a tragic paradox: a famous poet was living in poverty, rejected by the Roma community for betraying their secrets. 

Director: Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze
Screenwriters: Joanna Kos-Krauze, Krzysztof Krauze
Production: Argomedia Sp. z o.o. Telewizja Polska – Agencja Filmowa, Canal+ Polska, Studio Filmowe Kadr
Cast: Jowita Budnik, Antoni Pawlicki, Zbigniew Waleryś, Artur Steranko
Time: 126 minutes
Awards: The Eagles – Polish Film Academy Awards  for Best Busic, Best Photography, Best Scenography, Best Costumes; Award for Zbigniew Waleryś for Best Supporting Actor at The Gdynia Film Festival; Award for Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz for Best Music at The Gdynia Film Festival
Genre: Biography, Drama

Screening Time: Friday, October 17, 7:00 PM

Q&A with the main actor, Filip Pławiak, moderated by Zbigniew Banaś.

One Way Ticket to the Moon is a coming of age road film set in 1969, the year when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. The script follows the cross-country trip taken by two brothers – the younger getting ready to join the army and the older trying to prepare him for the rough life ahead. While they travel they meet old friends and make new acquaintances, resulting in a comic story set in the reality of the communist People’s Republic of Poland. In the last phase, Bromski ‘s light-hearted comedy shifts into a melodramatic hostage caper in edgy Berlin, in a bizarre, but true-story ending.

Director: Jacek Bromski
Screenwriter: Jacek Bromski
Production: Jacek Bromski Produkcja Filmowa, Studio Filmowe Zebra
Cast: Filip Pławiak, Mateusz Kościukiewicz, Anna Przybylska, Bożena Adamek, Łukasz Simlat, Andrzej Chyra, Andrzej Grabowski
Time: 120 minutes
Awards: Golden Reel for Best Director at the Triburon International Film Festival in California, Best Screenplay Award at Gdynia Film Festival
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Screening Time: Saturday, October 18, 3:30 PM

A sensitive, quietly devastating film, To Kill This Love, is a portrait of a young, penny-pinched urban couple under pressure from within and without. The heroes, Magda and Andrzej, are in love and do odd things in the name of it. Sometimes people steal, other times people lie and cheat all in the name of preserving what they feel is love. To Kill This Love explores all of that and more as it explores young love in early 70s Poland.

Director: Janusz Morgenstern
Screenwriter: Janusz Głowacki
Cast: Andrzej Malec, Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak, Alicja Jachiewicz, Janusz Bylczyński, Jan Englert, Bożena Dykiel, Władysław Kowalski, Ewa Ziętek
Time: 97 minutes
Awards: Jury’s Distinction for Janusz Morgenstern at the Koszalin Festival of Film Debuts “Young Ones and Film” in Koszalin; Acting award for Jadwiga Jankowska Cieślak at the Koszalin Festival of Film Debuts “Young Ones and Film” and acting award at the 1st International Film Meetings “Youth on Screen”; Award for Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieślak for female actor in a leading role at the Lubuskie Film Summer in Łagów; Zbyszek Cybulski Award for Jadwiga Jankowska Cieślak; Grand Prix – “Golden Grape” for Janusz Morgenstern at the Lubuskie Film Summer in Łagów
Genre: Drama, Romance

Screening Time: Thursday, October 16, 7:00 PM

On a deserted beach, on their last day at the seaside, a woman and a young man meet. He has been watching her for several days. He urges her to stay. She is burnt out internally, from war experiences and the loss of a loved one − a pilot, full of bitterness and distrust of people. Despite their mutual attraction, they are psychologically stuck, with the shadow of war looming over them − a mysterious past (the young man cannot find any anchor in life, he takes up various jobs), and an uncertain future. There are often jets flying over the beach, leaving behind trails of smoke − like a reminder of the war, destruction and disaster. At dusk, the woman falls asleep, he leaves unnoticed. After waking up, the woman desperately looks for him. The storm intensifies. Traces of their footsteps lead to the sea.

Director: Tadeusz Konwicki
Screenwriter: Tadeusz Konwicki
Production: Zespół Filmowy Kadr
Cast: Irena Laskowska, Jan Machulski
Time: 62 minutes
Awards: EXPO in Brussels (Belgium): Grand Prix for experimental film; International Documentary and Short Film Festival in Venice; Grand Prix; Cinema Enthusiasts Award Samovar
Genre: Drama, Romance

Screening Time: Sunday, October 19, 12:00 PM

Originally titled “Pociag”, this Polish film noir and Hitchcock homage stars Lucyna Winnicka and Leon Niemczyk. A mysterious young man (Niemczyk), claiming to be a doctor, boards the night train. Overcrowded conditions compels the new passenger to share a sleeping car with a secretive young woman (Winnicka). Neither of these reluctant companions is prone to small talk–and both seem to be hiding something. In fact, both seem to be running away from something. The police soon board the train searching for a murderer.

Director: Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Screenwriters: Jerzy Lutowski, Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Production: Zespół Filmowy Kadr
Cast: Lucyna Winnicka, Leon Niemczyk, Zbigniew Cybulski, Teresa Szmigielówna, Helena Dąbrowska, Ignacy Machowski, Roland Głowacki, Aleksander Sewruk, Zygmunt Zintel, Tadeusz Gwiazdowski, Witold Skaruch
Time: 99 minutes
Awards: Golden Duck for best Polish film; Special distinction for Lucyna Winnicka at International Film Festival in Venice
Genre: Drama, Thriller

Screening Time: Sunday, October 19, 3:45 PM

An ironical and absurd comedy set at a university summer school camp. The shallowness and cynicism of the academic milieu becomes apparent through the relationship between a young linguistics professor, Jaroslaw, and his diabolical senior colleague, Jakub. Krzysztof Zanussi presents the deeply troubling premise of academic conformity with witty humor.

Director: Krzysztof Zanussi
Screenwriter: Krzysztof Zanussi
Production: Zespół Filmowy Tor
Cast: Piotr Garlicki, Zbigniew Zapasiewicz, Christine Paul, Mariusz Dmochowski
Time: 101 minutes
Awards: Grand Prix at the Film Festival in Gdańsk, “Golden Capricorn” at the International Film Festival in Tehran; Critics award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival
Genre: Comedy, Drama

Screening Time: Suturday, October 18, 1:00PM

In a care home surrounded by magical forest deep in the middle of nowhere, the residents lead quiet, unruffled lives. Only Sundays seem to bring any variety. For Sunday is visiting day. On Sunday, the residents’ preparations for their families’ arrival start with the early morning. Yet with every passing hour their hope of seeing their loved ones dwindles. They have no choice but to believe that their visitors have lost their way in the forest. But they are sure to come next week.

Director: Matej Bobrik
Screenwriter: Matej Bobrik
Production: Stowarzyszenie Filmowców Polskich – Studio Munka
Time: 11 minutes
Genre: Short

Screening Time: Saturday, October 18, 2:15 PM

Tadeusz Rolke, an aged master of Polish photography, has more than just a typical teacher-student relationship with 15-year-old Michał. Together, they travel across Poland to take portrait photographs of the residents of small towns and villages while the dark room placed in their camper enables them to develop pictures on the spot and give them to the models whom they accidentally met. For the boy, this is an excellent opportunity to find out about the arcana of traditional photography. For both – an opportunity to experience a beautiful friendship.

Director: Piotr Stasik
Screenwriter: Piotr Stasik
Production: KIJORA (Anna Gawlita)
Time: 54 minutes
Genre: Documentary

Screening Time: Sunday, October 19, 2:30 PM

They share a name, a profession that is also their passion, but also a complicated bond full of resentment and ambiguity. Two acclaimed documentary filmmakers, Marcel and Paweł Łoziński, set off on a road trip across Europe. For the father, the journey marks the return to the place of his birth. For the son, it is an attempt to come to terms with their joint past. Both men try to record this difficult dialogue on film.

Director: Paweł Łoziński
Screenwriter: Paweł Łoziński, Marcel Łoziński
Production: Łoziński Production
Time: 54 minutes
Awards: Silver Horn for the best feature-length documentary at 53rd Krakow Film Festival; Grand Prix ”Biała Kobra“ at „Człowiek w zagrożeniu“ Festival 2013; Złote Grono Award at 42th Lubuskie Film Summer
Genre: Documentary

Screening Time: Suturday, October 18, 1:00PM

Miracle, Remedy, Regret, Prayer and Forgiveness – not to be afraid of. Jagoda Szelc believes that each one of us should teach somebody how to overcome the fear of dying. Avoiding a conventional plot “Such a landscape” follows the path of emotions and sensations of five stories based on actual events.

Director: Jagoda Szelc
Screenwriter: Jagoda Szelc
Production: PWSFTviT (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna)
Time: 23 minutes
Award: Golden Tadpole at the 21st Camerimage Film Festival
Genre: Short

Screening Time: Sunday, October 19, 2:00PM

A black-humour comedy about staying away from the rat race, and about a wry constatation that only idiots are capable of true happiness.  Paweł Burak, a much frustrated theology student, declares war against an oppressive reality.

Director: Jakub Pączek
Screenwriter: Jakub Pączek
Production: Stowarzyszenie Filmowców Polskich – Studio Munka
Time: 30 minutes
Genre: Short

Screening Time: Saturday, October 18, 1:00PM

The life of a railway watchman living in a small station in the middle of a forest follows the rhythm of passing trains. In his free time he plays the trumpet, plays with a hedgehog and struggles with a naughty boy. A young woman on a bike is a regular visitor to the station, yet every meeting with her proves a wasted opportunity for the watchman. One of passing trains will evoke his reflections on life.

Director: Piotr Szczepanowicz
Screenwriter: Piotr Szczepanowicz
Production: Stowarzyszenie Filmowców Polskich – Studio Munka
Time: 11 minutes
Award: Award for Best Director at Cracow Film Festival
Genre: Animation

Screening Time: Saturday, October 18, 1:00PM

La Voleuse is about a girl who tries to “steal” Daniel Merriam’s paintings from a Soho gallery. She is so enamored with these paintings that she is physically drawn inside their world and cannot return to reality. The film is a journey that takes place between one click and another. Between the camera shutter opening and closing we see the girl as a thief/photographer in a gallery. Inside the painting, she is tormented by animals. At the end of her journey inside the painting, a butterfly shows her a rose, in which she sees her own reflection. White rose petals transform into shutter blades, and she recognizes herself as a photographer, not a thief. Did she steal the painting? She definitely took the picture.

Director: Magda Sztompka
Cast: Dasha Kittredge
Production: Pratt University, New York
Time: 5 minutes
Genre: Short

Screening Time: Saturday, October 18, 1:00PM

Two elderly swimmers meet at the baths for their ritual swimming. This time they are diving deeper than usual.

Director: Tomek Ducki
Screenwriter: Tomek Ducki
Production: Studio Miniatur Filmowych
Time: 4 minutes
Awards: Best Visual Award at 11th Fantoche International Animation Film Festival; Jury’s Special Award at 15th International Animation Festival Hiroshima
Genre: Animation

Screening Time: Saturday, October 18, 10:00AM

A poetic story about the courage to venture out into the big wide world. The Little Red Paper Ship has a dream to discover new land. Despite the fact, that he is just a small ship made from a piece of paper, he has also courage in his heart to believe that everything is possible. One day he decides to start a journey, which would lead him to accomplish his dream. The journey turns out to be a great adventure… that will change him forever.

Director: Aleksandra Zaręba
Production: Lena Vurma
Time: 12 minutes
Awards: Golden Angel – The Audience Award from Kameralne Lato Festival; Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung for International Cooperation
Genre: Animation

Screening Time: Saturday, October 18, 10:00 AM

Fearless optimist Anna teams up with Kristoff in an epic journey, encountering Everest-like conditions, and a hilarious snowman named Olaf in a race to find Anna’s sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom in eternal winter.

Directors: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Screenwriters: Jennifer Lee
Production: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Stars: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana
Time: 102 minutes
Awards: The Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year; The Oscar for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song; Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature Film; BAFTA Film Award for Best Animated Film; Saturn Award for Best Animated Film
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy